Meghan Barrett
3 min read
Most often, being an avid writer means being an avid reader, too. While sometimes it’s great to get lost in a book (or five!), I like that I have a library of learning right at my fingertips on our sister site, “Build it: The Rebel Playbook for Employee Engagement.” Our resident rebels Debra Corey and Glenn Elliott travel around the world (or pick up the phone) to interview HR and leadership rebels on how they’ve come up with innovative “plays” to improve employee engagement at their organisation.
Since our last summer series seemed to take on a life of its own as we sorted through top ways to motivate employees, why not introduce one more? To end summer, let’s take a look each week at some Rebel Reads to add to your own reading list.
Patty McCord: Former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix
We had to start with the Queen of Culture, Patty McCord. Glenn Elliott, our Founder, sits down with Patty for a chat on the state of HR today, how to forget about tenure (and think about recruiting for talent first) and why trust is king. As a company that’s gone through its stage of growth and expansion — and still going — reading the transcript of the interview and watching the video made me think that this conversation just scratched the surface of what Glenn and Patty could talk about.
rg.co/patty
Dominic Price: Head of R&D and Work Futurist at Atlassian
Atlassian, which creates software to help engineers collaborate, is all about innovation. With one of our company values as Push the Boundaries, I was really intrigued by this story about building innovation right into the heart of the company’s job design. If you’re curious what “incremental innovation” means, and how it connects to the organisation’s “ShipIt” practice, check out the play for more.
rg.co/atlassian
Claude Silver: Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia
VaynerMedia is an RG favorite — it’s a 600-person digital media agency in New York, and the company has a strong focus on millennials. Claude’s play is in the Leadership chapter of “Build It” but you can also find a video interview with her on the Rebel Playbook website. In it, Claude talks about building company culture where employees can feel very safe, and how to lead with empathy. You can also take away a few tips on communications preparation, too.
rg.co/claudesilver
Jamie Getgood: Former HR Director at GM Holden
At a glance, this story about a company closing down might not seem like your typical engagement play. But the reality behind the work that went into engaging employees in times of adversity is truly inspiring. Now, Jamie consults for other businesses that are going through challenging times on how to engage their employees. Where other leaders may have shut down, GM Holden instead chose to be open, honest and transparent with its people.
rg.co/jamiegetgood
Trent Innes: Managing Director at Xero
What does a “Culture of Vulnerability” mean to you? Debra sat down with Xero’s Managing Director to talk about how building a culture of vulnerability has led to huge hiring success at the company. Trent talks about how to keep the focus on autonomy and authenticity in leaders and for all employees. I love his views on keeping values alive in every part of your business, and tucked away a few tips after watching!
rg.co/trentinterview
Stay tuned next week for more to add to your reading list! Got a favorite story? Share it with us in the comments.